Pablo Escobar trademark denied by Colombia

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government has refused to register as a trademark the full name of Pablo Escobar, the country’s most notorious criminal.

The cocaine kingpin’s widow and two children, who live in Argentina, had appealed an earlier rejection.

The Commission of Industry and Commerce said Thursday that granting a trademark would be immoral and subvert public order. It said the name Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria is associated with a dark period of violence in Colombia that claimed thousands of lives as he fought extradition to the United States.

Killed in a 1993 shootout with police, Escobar was recently the subject of a Colombian miniseries of more than 50 episodes.

Escobar’s son Sebastian did not respond to an email seeking comment on what the family intended to do with the trademark.